PARIS, July 27 (Reuters) - France said on Monday it was at
war with al Qaeda's North African branch and will intensify
military support for governments in the region combating the
Islamist fighters who killed an elderly French hostage.

But Prime Minister Francois Fillon said Paris would continue
to negotiate with hostage-takers whenever possible to save the
lives of French citizens, provided their captors did not cross a
"red line" by endangering their lives.

He was speaking in a radio interview a day after President
Nicolas Sarkozy confirmed that Michel Germaneau, 78, kidnapped
in Niger and held by al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, had been
killed following a failed French rescue mission in Mali.
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